Two Kings, One Journey
by Kasek
Summary: Just as Luffy sets out on his quest to become King of the Pirates, he meets a young boy who wants to be 'King of the Mamodo', and can only do it with Luffy's help. Their fates now linked, will they both be able to achieve their goals- or will both fail?


**Kasek**: Here's an idea I've been batting around forever, and most of this chapter has been written for months. Since it was so close to completion, I thought I'd finish it and throw it out there. Yes, I plan on continuing this, if even for a bit. It's definitely a project I've had in mind for a while (I used to be a MAJOR Zatch Bell fan, and technically still am), so at the very least you'll see a chapter 2, but I would like some reader input on this.

For my 'regulars'- I am trying to continue my other works, but I'm stuck on the new projects right now XP I have two other projects that my brain is focused on (Naruto/Shaman King and Naruto/Chrono Trigger), but I really do want to get back to the old ones sometime.

Final note: I'm using multiple versions of the manga so that it feels right, since it turns out that OneManga's chapter 2 is a direct scan of the English manga -_-;

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**Disclaimer: I own neither One Piece nor Zatch Bell, nor any of the associated characters**

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**Two Kings, One Journey**

**Chapter 1- Rubber and Lightning**

A slender finger with a long, painted nail and a ring at its base slid itself along the railing of the unusual pink ship. When its owner inspected the finger, she grimaced, though her face was out of view from the others on the ship. "Why is there _dust_ on my bulwark?"

One of the men behind her was now obviously distressed. "A thousand pardons, Lady Alvida! I though I had cleaned every inch of the ship! I'll clean everything over again, please-!"

The woman narrowed her eyes as she slowly turned to face the man who had committed such a crime as allowing dust on her ship. "'Please' _what_?"

The guilty one looked terrified as she lifted her spiked club. "Please, not the iron mace! I don't want to die!"

With a sickening thud, the man no longer had to worry about such a thing as wanting to live.

Alvida turned to two young boys, who cringed under the woman's gaze. "Koby! Zatch! Who is the fairest of all on the several seas?"

Koby, a pink haired boy wearing a white shirt with blue lines and pants, as well as glasses, was the first to reply. "Why, you are, Lady Alvida!"

Zatch, a yellow-blond younger boy with big yellow eyes, wearing nothing but a blue sleeveless dress with a ribbon tied with a jewel and shoes, spoke next. "No one compares to _you_, Lady Alvida!"

The woman narrowed her eyes at them. "Correct! Which is why I will not tolerate _anything_ dirty! The ship I sail in must be as clean and beautiful as I am! Understand?"

The two boys nodded, but in their thoughts they were not agreeing with her. After all, the woman was very large and round in stature, and her face was... not attractive in the least, especially with the thick make-up. Her hair was black and seemed more to shine with oil more than of its own accord. Her general cow-girl theme did not mix well with her physical appearance, the clothes just not originally intended for someone like her. She wore many jewels on her fingers, perhaps in another attempt to look beautiful. Her giant iron mace, on the other hand, did not make her look feminine at all. This, was Iron Mace Alvida, the Lady Pirate.

Alvida continued her little speech. "Remember, Koby... were it not for your vast knowledge of the seas, I would feed you to the sharks! But don't push your luck!"

Koby was immediately on his knees, and Zatch blinked for a moment before following suit in a panic. The pink-haired boy smiled nervously. "How very kind of you, Lady Alvida..."

Alvida's eyes turned to the blond. "And you, Zatch... if the men weren't so darn attached to you as their mascot, and if you didn't make such a good distraction during raids, I'd have fed _you_ to Sea Kings! You might grow up to be useful someday, but... Other than that, you two are worthless!" She kicked Zatch in the head, and gave a low growl. "Shine my shoes, brat!"

Koby handed him a cloth, and Zatch immediately set to work. "As you command, Lady Alvida!"

Alvida turned her eyes to the rest of her crew, who had taken the cue earlier that the ship needed to be cleaned... _again_. "I don't want to see one speck of dust on this ship, is that clear?!"

The crew gave an unanimous "Aye-aye!" After all, there was no arguing with that mace of hers.

She turned her gaze back to Zatch, and kicked him in the face. "That's enough! You're pathetic!"

Zatch got on his knees, ignoring the blood coming down his forehead. "I-I'm sorry!"

The lady pirate growled. "If you've got time to grovel, you've got time to scrub the toilet! Koby, you go scrub the rest of the bathroom!"

Both boys gulped. "R-right away!"

Koby lowered his head as Alvida turned around. "Right... away..." Zatch pulled out the red book that was sticking out of the back of his dress and stared at it, tears threatening to come from his eyes and drip on the odd designs on the cover. _If only... Koby was the one... then we could get out of here together... and stand up to bullies like her!_

--

Zatch was skipping along the beach of Alvida's island hideout (along with skipping his duties) when he found what appeared to be a regular barrel on the beach. After observing it for a minute (poking it, prodding it, smelling it, and oddly enough, tasting it), he began rolling it up the hill towards the storage house. After all, where else would he put it? Plus, he didn't know what it was, and he didn't know how to open barrels, so maybe someone up there could figure it out. Halfway up the hill, Koby saw him and walked up to him. "Zatch, is that a barrel of rum? Did you accidentally push it out of the storehouse or something?"

Zatch would've shrugged if his arms wee free. "I dunno. I found it on the beach. Want to help me take it to the storage house?"

The older boy sighed. "Well, I'm free of duties at the moment, so I really don't have anything better to do... and Lady Alvida would get mad if we didn't do anything with it..."

There seemed to be a glint in Zatch's eyes. "You know, I bet if we got the entire crew to mutiny, she wouldn't be able to take all of us down!"

Koby immediately began panicking. "Quiet down! What if she heard you?!"

Zatch merely huffed and keeped pushing. "Fine... serve her to your heart's content. But I'm gong to get out of here someday, just you wait and see! You know, you need to be braver, Koby!"

Koby sighed as he began pushing next to Zatch. "Braver, huh..."

As they reached the storage house, one of the other crew members, this one bearded, spotted them from the door. "Huh, what's that you two got there? Some rum?"

Zatch spoke up first. "We found it on the beach. I was hoping we could open it up and look, 'cause I didn't know what to do with it."

Another man inside the building, this one with long hair, answered. "I know what to do with it, we open it up and drink all the rum inside!"

The first man shook his head in disapproval. "Alvida would kill us if she found out."

A third man with a large chin grinned. "She won't find out... it's just us five, and I know Zatch wouldn't tell on us. And Koby's not going to tell either, _is he_?"

Koby gulped as they put the barrel in an upright position. "N-no, of course not..."

Suddenly, the top of the barrel exploded, and someone burst out of the top, giving a very loud yawn, followed by the very loud proclmation "Ah, that was a GREAT nap!!!"

One of the men gave the unknowingly appropriate exclamation "What the devil-?!?"

Zatch looked at this person with adoration in his eyes. He appeared to be someone in his upper teens; he was wearing a red button down shirt and blue shorts, and a yellow straw hat with a red band on top of his short black hair. There was a scar under his left eye, and a larger than Zatch thought possible grin on his face. "Looks like I survived somehow! I got so dizzy I thought I was gonna barf! Hahahaha!"

He turned to the people in the room. "Huh... who are you guys?"

The three men responded with what they thought most appropriate for the situation. "WHO THE _HELL_ ARE _YOU_?!?"

The large-chinned man got up in the boy's face. "What were you doing in there?!"

Suddenly, they heard Alvida's voice. "Stop slacking off!" Her mace flew through the air and crashed into the building they were in, leveling it like a hurricane. As the men groaned in pain, Alvida seemed to tower over the ruins, mace mysteriously back in her hands. "You lazy bums! Who's the fairest throughout all the several seas?"

The unanimous reply from the men was "Lady Alvida! You are, of course!"

She leaned in close to the long-haired man. "And yet you dare to defy me?"

The man was confused. "What?! Never, not in a million-"

"Don't play dumb with me, I could hear you talking all the way from the ship! Which one of you had such a "great nap"?!?"

The large-chinned man gasped. "Captain, we have an intruder!"

The bearded man spoke before the other could say anything. "That good for nothing Koby brought that strange fellow here!"

Alvida growled in not quite silent fury. "Could he be a bounty hunter after the price on my head? Koby, you traitorous little runt!"

The long-haired man scratched his head in confusion. "But the only bounty hunter bold enough to come here..."

The bearded one was also confused. "But the Marines have him locked up!"

Alvida seemed to gain a dangerous glint in her eye. "But if he's as clever as they say... he might've escaped. And they do say Roronoa Zoro _is_ that clever..."

--

Deep in the forest, Koby, Zatch, and the person in the barrel- who was still in the barrel, it having been launched from the building on impact with him still in it- were talking. Koby spoke up first. "Um, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

The person laughed as he climbed out of the container. "I'm fine, just surprised is all. My name's Luffy! Where am I?"

Zatch spoke up next. "This is the island of Iron Mace Alvida, the Lady Pirate! We're her cabin boys. I'm Zatch, and this is Koby! Are you here to rescue us?"

Luffy shook his head. "Nah. None of that really interests me."

Zatch had stars in his eyes. "See that Koby? He doesn't care about Alvida _at all_. You need to be more like him!"

As Koby grumbled, Luffy continued speaking. "You wouldn't happen to have a dinghy, would you? Mine got sucked into a whirlpool."

Zatch continued to adore this person. "A whirlpool?! And you lived?! So cool~"

Luffy frowned. "Yeah, it really caught me by surprise. So you got one or what?"

The pink-haired boy sighed as he weighed his options. "If it's a dinghy you want, I have one... sort of..."

--

Luffy looked at the "dinghy" critically. It was obviously not made professionally. "What is this, a coffin?!"

Koby looked defeated. "I built it myself. It took me two years..."

Young Zatch was stunned. "You mean... you've had a way off of the island... and you never told me?!"

Koby looked down at his feet. "I... was never brave enough to try it myself... and I didn't want you getting yourself killed trying to escape... well, I don't really need it anymore. I've given up on trying to escape... though I once had a different dream..."

Luffy looked like he was going to say something, but Zatch beat him to it. "Why _don't_ you escape?! You have every right to! She's nothing but a big meanie, you don't need to put up with her!"

The slightly older boy shook his head vigorously. "The thought of what she'd do to me if she caught me makes even my bladder weak...! I just can't risk it!" He seemed to be staring of into space now. "I'll never forget that fateful day... I just wanted to go fishing, and I ended up boarding a pirate ship by mistake... in exchange for my life I'm their cabin boy now."

Luffy tilted his head. "Wow, you're both clumsy _and_ dumb. And you're gutless too, totally worthless."

Said worthless boy was crying as he sighed. "You don't need to be t_hat_ frank... But you're right, I don't have the guts to do something like float around at sea in a barrel. Like you- why did you even got to sea in the first place, Luffy?"

Luffy grinned wider than Koby thought was humanly possible. "Because- I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"

As Zatch's eyes grew wide(er), Koby tried to reason with this person. "King of the Pirates? But you'd have to make the _whole world_ bow to you! Wealth, Fame, Power- you'd need it all! Don't tell me you're going after Gold Roger's treasure One Piece!" He was getting more and more worked up. "Do you want to _die_? Every pirate in the world is after that!"

The eldest boy had by now sat down and crossed his arms. "And so am I."

"But the odds against you are astronomical! It's impossible! You want to be King of the Pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy? It'll never happen!"

Koby fell over when Zatch performed a flying kick to his stomach, knocking him backwards. As Koby got back up, his eyes were wide with surprise. "Zatch...?"

Zatch looked angry. "You... you shouldn't make light of people's dreams! If someone truly wants to become a king, they can!"

Luffy took off his hat and looked at it. "...I'm not afraid to die, Koby. I've set myself to become King of the Pirates... and if I die, then I died trying!"

As Koby stared dumbfounded, Zatch pranced over to Luffy and handed him his red book. "Luffy, right? See if you can read this book. I want to help you achieve your dream!"

Luffy took the book from him and began flipping through it. "....huh? What's this weird language... hey, I can read this part! "The first spell... **Zakeru**!". What's that supposed to-" He was interrupted by a _bolt of lightning_ coming out of Zatch's mouth and blasting him in the face. After it was over, you could see that Zatch's eyes had faded to completely white, and were now reverting back to their normal colors. Zatch's eyes widened with shock at what he had done. "I didn't just shoot you with lightning, did I?!"

The hatted boy merely sat there and grinned as if nothing had happened at all, despite the smoke coming from his clothes. "Yep! That was kinda cool, how did you do it?"

Zatch seemed very happy indeed. "Yes! You're my partner! HahahaHAhaha! I finally found you! I found you before someone else found me!"

Koby was stunned. "Zatch...? What ARE you? Did you eat a Devil Fruit, or...?"

The boy in the blue dress merely smiled. "I'm a Mamodo! I come from the Mamodo world! I was sent to this world to participate in a battle for the title of King of the Mamodo! I was pretty scared to fight, but... after hearing Luffy's words, I can't help but want to be King as well! I'll fight for it with my life on the line!"

Koby seemed to think for a moment. And then, tears came down from his eyes. "You guys... have the guts to follow your dreams... even if it means... I never looked at it that way before... being willing to risk your life... Maybe it is possible! Luffy, do you think I could join the Marines?!"

Luffy looked surprised. "The Marines?"

The tears were flowing freely now. "We'll end up being enemies... but I want to join the Marines and fight the bad guys! It's been my dream since I was a little kid!" The boy was now standing up, determined. "Luffy! Zatch! Do you think I can do it?" Luffy shrugged his shoulders in indifference, but Zatch nodded enthusiastically. "I'll do it! There's nothing to lose if I try, because staying here is like I'm already dead! I'm gonna join the Marines, and then... I'll capture Alvida!"

"WHO ARE YOU GOING TO CAPTURE?!" The boat suddenly shattered, a large iron mace having slammed into it- Alvida's mace. Coby was horrified- that was his escape boat! Alvida looked plenty ticked off as she lifted her mace back into the air, and Coby realized she had all of her men with her. "Is that who you hired to capture me? Well, he certainly isn't Roronoa Zoro... Huh? Zatch? What are YOU doing here?! Are you betraying me too?!"

Zatch smiled like he had masterminded some kind of plan, pointing at Luffy. "I never really _was_ on your side, Alvida! You see, this guy here... is my partner!" As Luffy just stood there, slightly confused, Alvida seemed to only get angrier.

"I'll give you guys one chance to redeem yourselves... who is the most _beautiful_ person in all the world?"

Koby seemed to have forgotten his entire heartfelt speech. "Why.. that'd be-"

"Who's this fat lady?" Everyone stood in open shock at Luffy, except for Zatch who seemed more than pleased.

"That brat-" "He dares to-"

Koby turned to Luffy, scared out of his mind. "Luffy! Take it back, and repeat after me! Throughout all the seas, Alvida is..." His eyes widened as he regained his sanity. "...THE _UGLIEST_ OF ALL SEA HAGS!" He apparently then realized that Alvida was right next to him, her club at the ready, as Luffy laughed his head off.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Koby, while outwardly screaming for his life, was inwardly relieved. _I don't regret this... This was for my dream!_ Luffy stepped forward, smiling all the while. Alvida seemed to only get more ticked off. "It makes no difference to me... which of you I kill first!"

Even Zatch was horrified when she brought the club square down on Luffy... only for him to look up. "That didn't hurt a _bit_." Everyone present had their jaws drop when Luffy threw his arm behind him, and instead of acting like a normal human limb... it _stretched_. "Gomu Gomu no... PISTOL!" His fist came back, slamming into Alvida and sending her flying into her men, who were freaking out at the impossibility of the situation.

"His arm..." "It stretched!" "He beat Alvida!" "He can't be human!"

Luffy pointed at the distressed pirates. "Give Koby a boat! He's gonna join the Marines!" As the pirates hastily scrambled to perform the task before them, Koby couldn't have been happier.

--

As the three boys set sail in their small ship, they began talking about what had transpired between them. Koby, being the one without superpowers, tried to get his facts straight. "Alright... Luffy there has eaten a 'Devil Fruit', which turned him into a 'rubber man'." Luffy nodded, stretching his cheek beyond the normal human limit to prove it. Koby then turned to Zatch. "And you're... from another world? And that book holds all of your power? Does that mean that there are more people like you?"

Zatch nodded. "Yep! There are a hundred of us, scattered throughout the world! Some of them are really strong, though... the idea is that we try to burn the other Mamodo's books and send them back home. Last Mamodo on the planet becomes the Mamodo King! I'm surprised I haven't run into another Mamodo with all the pirating Alvida does..."

Koby seemed mildly disturbed at the thought of a hundred people with superpowers fighting each other, when he remembered something. "Wait... if Luffy is trying to find One Piece... that means that you're gonna go to the Grand Line, right? That place is known as the Pirates' Graveyard for a reason! You won't be the only person with a Devil Fruit there... I used to think they were a myth, but apparently not."

Luffy nodded. "That's right! Which is why I need to get a strong crew!"

The blond boy jumped up enthusiastically. "Unuu~ Can I join? I'll even be your cabin boy if I have to!"

The rubberman smiled. "Sure thing! You can shoot lightning, why wouldn't I want you on my crew? Now we need to go pick up our next crewmate, he's at that place Koby wants to go!"

The pink-haired boy tried to think for a moment about who he could mean. "...wait, you mean Roronoa Zoro? The _Pirate Hunter_?"

His sarcasm was lost on Luffy's optimism. "Yeah, him! If he's a good guy, I want him to join!"

Koby seemed just as terrified of this mysterious "Zoro" as he was of Alvida. "You can't do that! He's a monster!" The other two people on the boat blinked, and waited for a moment before chuckling. "....I meant in personality!"

Luffy grinned as he looked out towards the open sea. "Well.... you can never be too sure! That's what an adventure is all about!"

---

**Ending notes**: Any suggestions on who else in One Piece should have a Mamodo partner? There's like 70 of them if you don't count the Ancient Mamodo, and I intend on counting a couple of them, but at the same time some characters won't feel right with a Mamodo of their own. Some of the pairings are all too obvious, but lesser Mamodo don't have obvious partners so I thought I'd ask for opinions on those. Also, yes, Zatch still has his memories. I have a plot reason for that, as well.

The most obvious Mamodo that you would want to see in this story would be Tia, Kanchome, and Schneider (why am I using English for some things and Japanese for others? *shrug*), so they'll be the ones who are most definitely joining the Strawhat crew. I would think that Tia would go with Nami, and that Kanchome would be with Usopp... and just to complete the set early on, Schneider will go to Sanji (though they might not actually partner up at first).

Other Mamodo will join up with the Strawhats- I actually have one planned for Zoro, and one for Robin as well. I'm not sure yet with Franky and Brook (since they are WAY too far away to be planning for at this point), but Chopper I'm still flipping a coin over whether to let him have one in the first place- he already looks like a Mamodo as is xD Since his humanity is artificial, it might not count towards being a book-keeper. E-cookies to whoever guesses Zoro's Mamodo :3 Aaaand I really need to stop writing this note and POST! Hope you enjoyed this and will enjoy future chapters~


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